New Most and Least Obese States Revealed

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Montana claimed the title of least obese state in 2013, bumping
Colorado out of the top spot for the first time in three years,
while Mississippi ranked as the most obese state, pushing West
Virginia out of this spot, according to the latest
Gallup-Healthways poll.

In 2013, Mississippi had an obesity rate of 35.4 percent, while
the rate in Montana was 19.6 percent, the poll found. Montana was
the only state to have an
obesity rate of less than 20 percent.

The states with the 10 highest obesity rates also tended to have
higher rates of chronic diseases, according to the report. For
example, 35.8 percent of Americans living in the 10 most obese
states had
high blood pressure, compared with 26.4 percent of Americans
living in the least obese states.

And people living in states with the lowest obesity rates tended
to have higher rates of healthy eating and exercise. For example,
in the 10 least obese states, 66.7 percent of people, on average,
said they ate healthy "all day yesterday," compared with 60.8
percent of people in the 10 most obese states.

"Research has shown that the average health care costs for an
obese individual are over $1,300 more annually than [for] someone
who is not obese," Dr. James E. Pope, chief science officer at
Healthways, said in a statement. "Although slowing, and even
reversing, this trend may seem daunting, even modest weight loss
of 5 percent to 10 percent of initial body weight can lower the
health risks associated with obesity," Pope said.